New faces leading Mariners to hot start

After a disappointing 100-loss campaign last season, the Seattle Mariners decided to make some off-season moves to retool the roster. JJ Putz, Raul Ibanez, and Willie Bloomquist are all out while Endy Chavez, Franklin Gutierrez, Russell Branyan, and Mike Sweeney are in. Last season, the M's offense ranked 26th in total runs, but this season they currently rank 18th, largely due to some timely hitting by the new faces.

The biggest reason for the Mariner's unexpected success is the effectiveness of the pitching staff. The Mariner's team ERA is 2.95, the best mark in all of baseball. Felix Hernandez is slowly starting to live up to the expectations that have surrounded him since he broke into the big leagues. Eric Bedard is in the form he was in 2007, when he was one of the premiere pitchers in the AL. However, the biggest surprise on the pitching staff is Jarrod Washburn. Washburn, who struggled last year, is off to a blazing 3-0 start with a 1.71 ERA. Brandon Morrow has stepped into the closer role well, going 5/5 on his save opportunites so far.

NFL Draft Thoughts

The 1st round of the NFL Draft is in the books and the biggest story so far is the Raiders selection of Darrius Heyward-Bey with the 7th overall pick. This pick makes no sense when both Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin are both available. However, it shouldn't be much of a surprise pick by Al Davis considering the hard-on he has for speed. Five other wide receivers have been picked in the first round, including Crabtree who fell to the 49ers with the 10th pick.

Seattle picking up Aaron Curry with the 4th pick was a nice grab, as he will contribute much more next year than QB Mark Sanchez will. The Seahawks should be able to get a few more good years out of Hasselbeck and can address the need for a QB in next year's draft, which will be fairly deep at the position.

The Lions have started off their draft strong as well. Stafford was the right choice to take with the top pick. He gives the franchise a face, which it sorely needs after its 0-16 campaign last season. Michael Oher could have addressed a need for the Lions at the 20th pick, but with this Tackle-heavy draft they can address the need in the later rounds. Brandon Pettigrew gives Stafford another weapon on offense as well as a superb blocking TE.

-Mike